Rafael Kayanan: Art Blog by Rafael

Excerpt from a Teja Van Wicklen 2003 BLACK BELT mag interview with actor Benicio Del Toro :

TVW - What has been your experience working with fight choreography?

BDT - I’ve been lucky. I worked with a guy named Chick Daniels on The Way
of the Gun. And then on the Hunted with Tom and Raf, so I’ve been lucky to
work with the best of the best. And I think it’s essential when you’re doing a
movie about something, to be with people who know about that something.
You’re not born knowing it all. That’s the fun of it - to be with people that know
how to do something and to learn a little bit about it. That’s what makes
making movies really exciting. You go on a journey – and I don’t mean one
location to another - a physical and mental journey - learning about the
Philippines, meeting interesting people, even learning how to collect your
blood in your hand so you can throw it at someone’s face as a way of
defense."

TVW - What are your favorite action movies? What makes a good action film?

BDT - My idea of a good action film is that the action is realistic. I can like
action movies where people fly - like the Matrix - I like that movie. But I like it
when there is logic - when a punch or a knife or a gun is used with a brain
behind it, not just for the hell of it. When the action is part of the story and isn’t
only justified by the location or temperature. That it’s based on reality, on the
moment, on the circumstances of the story. I think Scorsese has done some
great action stuff in his movies. Some of the Bruce Lee films have some great
stuff. Enter the Dragon. Kurosawa’s The Hidden Fortress, that’s got some
great stuff! What’s your favorite action movie?

TVW - I thought Once Were Warriors had some gritty real time fights.

BDT - Yeah, there’s some good work in Once Were Warriors - I liked it. But
Raging Bull keeps coming back - the scene where DeNiro walks into the
house and Joe Pesci who plays his brother - that’s pretty intense, that keeps
jumping out as one of the craziest – and it’s all real. I like action when it’s not
glamorized. There are no weird kicks coming out of nowhere, that could
happen I guess, but it’s more like a real fight. They're not doing somersaults
in the air and defying gravity.

TVW - So I guess Crouching Tiger was your favorite action movie (laughs)?

BDT - It’s great for what it is. I liked ET too. But for real action, films like Jaws
had some moments. Saving Private Ryan had some amazing sequences,
when they take the beach at Normandy - that’s intense. Like in The Hunted
the actual knife fighting at the end - even though we know it’s a little bit too
long for two people who really know how to use the knife - it’s extended, but
it’s not glamorized. It’s the Blues versus Techno, it’s straight up, nothing is
hiding.